US4582583A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Continuous stripe plating apparatus
Assignee: National Semiconductor Corp
•
Filing: 1984-12-07
•
Granted: 1986-04-15
•
Expires: 2004-12-07
Abstract
Abstract The plating apparatus (10) includes a pair of loop belts (20,21) rotating on two sets of pulleys, each set of pulleys including pulleys (11,12), to drive a strip (40) to be stripe plated past a translatingly movable electrolyte manifold (41) containing a series of electrolyte inlet and outlet slots (70,71) in its strip-facing surface. Electrolyte is sprayed from the inlet slots through apertures (24) in a back-up layer of at least one of the belts and through a slot (22) formed between belt segments. Vacuum or air pressure inlets (78,96) are provided at the ends of the manifold to prevent egress of electrolyte from the nip between the pairs of belts. One pulley of each set of pulleys is adjustable to tension the belt and an intermediate roller arrangement is included between each of the pulleys in each set to monitor the belt tension and provide sufficient frictional holding contact between the belts and the workpiece strip and desired sliding contact between the belts and the manifold surface.
Inventors
- 👤 Gerald C. Laverty
- 👤 Lev G. Amusin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 19:18
CPC Classifications
C; C25; C25D; C25D5/00; C25D5/02; C25D5/022
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
243 words
A plating apparatus for plating linear increments of a movable workpiece strip comprising: at least one pair of movable loop belts to move a to-be-plated continuous strip, said belts being spaced from each other in their direction of travel to be in frictional driving contact with said strip to drive the strip, at least one of said belts having spaced linear segments forming a masking slot therebetween; each of said pair of belts being mounted on and extending in a tensioned span between first and second spaced pulleys each on a rotary shaft; drive means connected to the shaft of said first pulley for rotatively driving said first and second pulleys; adjusting means connected to the second pulley for adjusting the span between said pulleys and tension in said belts; an electrolyte manifold, extending between said pulleys within the loop of at least one of said belts and movable with respect to said strip into rubbing contact at a prescribed pressure with said one belt, said manifold including a manifold head having multiple slots extending transverse to said moving strip to convey plating electrolyte from said manifold through said masking slot to linear increments of said moving strip facing said masking slot for incrementally plating said increments; and means in contact with said belts between said pulleys for monitoring the tension of said belts to provide a sufficient frictional driving force of said belts in contact with said strip to move said strip.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
243 words
A plating apparatus for plating linear increments of a movable workpiece strip comprising: at least one pair of movable loop belts to move a to-be-plated continuous strip, said belts being spaced from each other in their direction of travel to be in frictional driving contact with said strip to drive the strip, at least one of said belts having spaced linear segments forming a masking slot therebetween; each of said pair of belts being mounted on and extending in a tensioned span between first and second spaced pulleys each on a rotary shaft; drive means connected to the shaft of said first pulley for rotatively driving said first and second pulleys; adjusting means connected to the second pulley for adjusting the span between said pulleys and tension in said belts; an electrolyte manifold, extending between said pulleys within the loop of at least one of said belts and movable with respect to said strip into rubbing contact at a prescribed pressure with said one belt, said manifold including a manifold head having multiple slots extending transverse to said moving strip to convey plating electrolyte from said manifold through said masking slot to linear increments of said moving strip facing said masking slot for incrementally plating said increments; and means in contact with said belts between said pulleys for monitoring the tension of said belts to provide a sufficient frictional driving force of said belts in contact with said strip to move said strip.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said adjusting means comprises jack screw means operable for moving the shaft of said second pulley linearly with respect to the shaft of the first pulley.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
97 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said means for monitoring comprises: a pair of fixed pins each including cap ends extending from a fixed frame positioned interiorly of said belts; a roller extending between said pins and in engagement with said belts; bearing end housings for supporting said roller; and tension spring means extending between said frame and said bearing end housings for tensioning said belts outwardly from a centerline between said pulleys, said second pulley adjusting means being adjusted such that a predetermined gap is formed between said bearing end housings and said cap ends.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus of claim 3 in which said bearing end housings and said roller translates on said fixed pins dependent on the net tensioning force of said tension spring means and the tensioning of said belts by said adjusting means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said vertical head slots alternately form electrolyte inlet slots and electrolyte outlet slots.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
66 words
The apparatus of claim 5 in which each of said inlet slots and each of said outlet slots respectively include an electrolyte inlet opening and an electrolyte outlet opening, said inlet openings being at one location in said inlet slots and said outlet openings being at another location in said outlet slots, said outlet openings locations being displaced transversely with respect to said inlet openings locations.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 6 in which said inlet openings are at a one end of said inlet slots and said outlet openings are at the other end of said outlet slots.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said belts include a backing layer extending across the belt segments, said backing layer having linearly-extending apertures aligned with said masking slot between said belt segments, each of said apertures being separated by a connecting web, edges of said apertures and said webs being in sliding contact with said manifold head.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the connecting web has a length less than the thickness of the belt.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
39 words
The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising means in said manifold, adjacent strip entrance and exit locations of said belts for draining and collecting spent electrolyte from said belt slot and said strip at said entrance and exit locations.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said means for draining comprises differential air pressure means for removing electrolyte from said belt slot and strip.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 1 including flexible air pressure tubes expandible by air pressure to move and resiliently hold said manifold against said belts.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
159 words
A plating apparatus for plating linear increments of a movable strip comprising: at least one pair of movable loop belts to move a to-be-plated continuous strip, said belts being spaced from each other in their direction of travel to form a slot therebetween and to be in frictional driving contact with said strip to drive the strip; each of said pair of belts being mounted on and extending in a tensioned span between first and second spaced pulleys each on a rotary shaft; drive means connected to the shaft of said first pulley for rotatively driving said first and second pulleys; and an electrolyte manifold extending between said pulleys and flexibly movable with respect to said strip so that at least one of said belts is in rubbing contact therewith, said manifold including a manifold head having multiple slots extending transverse to said moving strip to convey plating electrolyte from said manifold through said belt to said moving strip.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
159 words
A plating apparatus for plating linear increments of a movable strip comprising: at least one pair of movable loop belts to move a to-be-plated continuous strip, said belts being spaced from each other in their direction of travel to form a slot therebetween and to be in frictional driving contact with said strip to drive the strip; each of said pair of belts being mounted on and extending in a tensioned span between first and second spaced pulleys each on a rotary shaft; drive means connected to the shaft of said first pulley for rotatively driving said first and second pulleys; and an electrolyte manifold extending between said pulleys and flexibly movable with respect to said strip so that at least one of said belts is in rubbing contact therewith, said manifold including a manifold head having multiple slots extending transverse to said moving strip to convey plating electrolyte from said manifold through said belt to said moving strip.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 13 in which said transverse manifold slots alternately form electrolyte inlet slots and electrolyte outlet slots.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
66 words
The apparatus of claim 13 in which each of said inlet slots and each of said outlet slots respectively include an electrolyte inlet opening and an electrolyte outlet opening, said inlet openings being at one location in said inlet slots and said outlet openings being at another location in said outlet slots, said outlet openings locations being displaced transversely with respect to said inlet openings locations.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
67 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein at least one of said belts include a backing layer extending across the belt, said backing layer having linearly-extending apertures aligned an elongated slot between linear portions of said belt, each of said apertures being separated by connecting webs, with the edges of said aperture and said webs being in sliding contact with said manifold head extending between said manifold slots.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising means in said manifold, adjacent entrance and exit locations of said strip with said belts for draining and collecting spent electrolyte from said belts and said strip at said locations.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 13 including flexible air pressure tubes expandible by air pressure to move and resiliently hold said manifold against said moving belts.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said strip is cathodic and said manifold head is anodic.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 19 in which said manifold head is made of electrically conductive vitreous carbon.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein multiple plating apparatus as set forth are staggered at various levels in a plating catch tank.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3746630A
Cited
US4029555A
Cited
US4220506A
Cited
US4378283A
Cited
US4409924A
Cited
FR2530673A1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1989-04-14 | 1989-10-14 | 1990-04-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1993-04-14 | 1993-10-14 | 1994-04-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1997-04-14 | 1997-10-14 | 1998-04-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |